Guaranteed payment method and system

ABSTRACT

A computerized payment system by which a consumer may instruct a service provider by telephone, computer terminal, or other telecommunications means to pay various bills without the consumer having to write a check for each bill. The system operates without restriction as to where the consumer banks and what bills are to be paid. The service provider collects consumers&#39; information, financial institutions&#39; information and merchant information and arranges payment based on a financial risk analysis to the merchants according to the consumers&#39; instructions.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This is a continuation of co-pending application for U.S. Pat.Ser. No. 08/372,620, filed Jan. 13, 1995, which will issue as U.S. Pat.No 5,873,072 on Feb. 16, 1999, which was a continuation of co-pendingapplication for U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 07/736,071, filed on Jul. 25, 1991,which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,113 on Jan. 17, 1995, each havingthe common assignee of the present invention and each incorporatedherein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methodsfor paying bills. More particularly, the present invention is acomputerized system for paying bills whereby a consumer may contact asingle source from a remote location via a telephone, a computerterminal with modem, or other electronic means, to direct the singlesource to pay the consumer's bills instead of the consumer writingchecks for each bill. A microfiche appendix has been submitted with theparent case of this application Ser. No. 07/736,071, which issued asU.S. Pat. No. 5,383,113 on Jan. 17, 1995, which contains the programcode of the present invention and which in its entirety is incorporatedherein by reference. An additional hard copy of the appendix is attachedas Exhibit A.

[0003] It has been common for many years for consumers to pay monthlybills by way of a personal check written by the consumer and sent bymail to the entity from which the bill or invoice was received.Consumers have used other ways to pay bills, including personallyvisiting the billing entity to make a cash payment. In today's economy,it is not unusual for a consumer to have several regular monthlyinvoices to pay. Writing individual checks to pay each invoice can betime-consuming and costly due to postage and other related expenses.

[0004] A need exists for a method whereby a consumer can contact asingle source and inform the source to pay various bills of theconsumer, to have the source adjust the consumer's account with theconsumer's financial institution (i.e., bank, credit union, savings andloan association, etc.) to reflect a bill payment, and to actually paythe billing entity a specified amount by a particular time. The systemshould be efficient and not unreasonably expensive and relatively simplefor a consumer to interact with. Some banks have attempted to provide aservice for making payment to a few billing entities to which the bankshave established relations. The banks that do provide that type ofservice are limited in that they provide the service only for their owncustomers since the banks have not developed a system for accuratelyacquiring and processing account numbers and balances of customers ofall other banking institutions and coordinating that information withbill payment. Furthermore, banks have not developed a system formanaging the risks involved in providing such a service and the inherentcomplexities of providing the service to consumers other than the bank'sown customers. Therefore, a need exists for a single source bill paymentsystem that would be available to any consumer, regardless of where theconsumer banks and regardless of what bills are to be paid.

[0005] The present invention is designed to fulfill the above listedneeds. The invention provides a universal bill payment system that worksregardless of the consumer's financial institution and bill to be paid.The present invention provides a computerized system by which a consumermay pay bills utilizing the telephone, a computer terminal, or otherelectronic, data transmission means. Transactions are recorded againstthe consumer's account wherever he or she banks. The consumer may be anindividual or a business, large or small. The present invention worksregardless of where the consumer banks.

[0006] The method of the present invention includes: gathering consumerinformation and creating a master file with banking information androuting codes; inputting payment instructions by the consumer at aconvenient location (e.g., at home), typically remote from the paymentservice provider, by using an input terminal such as a push-buttontelephone; applying the payment instructions to the consumer's file;using computer software of the present invention to examine variousfiles to determine such things as what is the appropriate form ofpayment based on variables involving banking institutions and merchants;comparing each transaction against a dynamic credit file and routingbased on set parameters; and, if the payment system determines thateverything is ready for payment to be made, adjusting the consumer'saccount (usually by debiting) and making payment directly to the billingentity. The single source service provider for consumer bill paymentcould be any entity with the capability to practice the invention asdescribed hereinafter. The foregoing and other objects and advantageswill become more apparent when viewed in light of the accompanyingdrawings and following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical representation of the creation of aconsumer database;

[0008]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical representation of the establishment ofa merchant's (billing entities) database and the making of payments;

[0009]FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical representation of the creation of aconsumer pay table;

[0010]FIGS. 4a is a diagrammatical representation of a paymentprocessing cycle;

[0011]FIG. 4b is a continuation of the diagram of FIG. 4a;

[0012]FIG. 4c is a continuation of the diagram of FIG. 4b;

[0013]FIG. 5 is a diagrammatical representation of a computer hardwaresystem that may be used for accomplishing the present invention; and

[0014]FIG. 6 is a diagrammatical representation of another computerhardware system that may be used for accomplishing the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

[0015] Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates the steps inthe creation of a consumer database for use with the present invention.The first step in the process is to establish a consumer's data recordson the system. This may be accomplished by the consumer completing anauthorization form 20 which would contain the needed information toinput into the system concerning the consumer. This information mayinclude the consumer's name, address, telephone number and otherapplicable information. The consumer would also provide a voided checkfrom the consumer's personal checking account. The consumer'sinformation may then be manually input via a keyboard 52 into theconsumer database record 22. Default amounts may be set for anindividual credit line parameter and for a total month-to-dateparameter. These amounts establish the maximum unqualified credit riskexposure the service provider is willing to accept for an individualtransaction and for the collective month-to-date transactions of aconsumer. As explained hereinafter, the service provider may be at riskwhen paying a consumer's bills by a check written on the serviceprovider's account.

[0016] From the voided check, the consumer's bank routing transit andindividual account numbers at an institution are input into the computersystem. This information may be edited against an internal financialinstitutions file (FIF) database 24 of the present invention. FIF 24 isa database of financial institutions' identification codes and accountinformation for the consumer. This file edits the accuracy of therouting transit number and the bank account number. If the numbers donot correspond with the correct routing and bank numbers, they arerejected and the data entry is done again. FIF 24 in conjunction withthe software of the present invention also updates the consumer database22 for both electronic and paper draft routing and account information.The needed information may be obtained from each banking institution andeach consumer.

[0017] The consumer is notified by the service provider of his or herlocal phone number access and personal security code for informing theservice provider that a bill is to be paid. This information may bestored in a phone access table 26. The personal security code may bemuch like an ATM machine four digit code. In addition, to comply withfederal law, an electronic pre-note 28 will be created to be sent to theconsumer's bank to inform the bank that the service provider isauthorized to debit the consumer's account. For further security to theservice provider, a consumer credit record 30 may be obtained. Thedefault credit limit amounts over which the service provider may beunwilling to assume financial risk may be modified based on theinformation obtained from the credit report 30.

[0018] In FIG. 2 the steps are shown for establishing merchants to bepaid and the making of a payment. The consumer must inform the serviceprovider or processor of a merchant's name, address, phone number andthe consumer's account number with the merchant 32. The term “merchant”as used herein is intended to pertain to any person or entity that theconsumer wishes to pay and is not to be limited to the usual merchantsmost consumers pay, such as the electric company, a home mortgagelender, etc. This information is put into a merchant master filedatabase 42 (MMF). The consumer may also indicate whether the merchantis a variable or fixed merchant. A variable merchant is one in which thedate and amount of payment will vary each month. A fixed merchant is onein which the date and amount remain the same each month. If the merchantis fixed, the frequency of payment may be other than monthly, such asweekly, quarterly, etc. The consumer should inform the service providerof the date on which the merchant is to be paid and the amount to bepaid.

[0019] Through a telecommunications terminal 34 (e.g., a push-buttontelephone or computer terminal), a consumer may initiate payment ofbills. Through the terminal, the consumer may access his merchant listand input the payment date and amount. The system may be provided with apayment date editor 36 to insure that the date is valid and logical(i.e., payment dates already in the past or possibly a year or more intothe future would be questioned). As payments are initiated, a consumer“checkbook register” may be created and automatically updated to reflectthis activity. The merchant list can be visible on the consumer'spersonal computer screen. On a personal computer a consumer may entermerchant payment amounts and payment dates on the computer screen andthen transmit this information to the service provider.

[0020] By telephone, the list may be presented by programmed voice. Thevoice may be programmed to ask the consumer if a particular merchant(selected from the consumer's MMF, which may be updated from time totime) is to be paid and to tell the consumer to press 1 if yes, or press2 if no. If yes, the voice may instruct the consumer to enter the amountto be paid by pressing the numbers on a touch tone phone. The asteriskbutton could be used as a decimal point. After the amount is entered,the voice may ask the consumer to enter the date on which payment is tobe made to the merchant. This may be accomplished by assigning eachmonth a number, such as January being month 01. The consumer may thenenter month, day and year for payment. The programmed voice may beaccomplished with a VRU (voice response unit) available from AT&T orother vendors. It may communicate with a data processor to obtainconsumer information. At the end of the consumer's session on theterminal a confirmation number may be sent to the consumer, providing arecord of the transaction.

[0021] In FIG. 3 the steps are shown for the creation of the consumerpay table 38 and making updates to it. The consumer's files may bereceived at the service provider on a front end processor 40 thatinterfaces with the telecommunications network. The consumer's recordsmay be edited 44 for validity by comparing to the merchants' accountscheme. Any new merchant records are added to the consumer's pay table.New merchants are compared to the MMF 42 and appropriatelycross-referenced to the pay table to check if a merchant record alreadyexists. If no merchant record exists, a merchant record will be createdon the MMF 42.

[0022] Payment records may also be received on the service provider'sprocessor. The payment may first go through a validation process againstthe pay table. The validation process checks for duplicate payments andif duplicates are found they are sent to a reject file. The validationprocess also verifies that merchants are set up and may check formultiple payments to be paid to a particular merchant. Orders forpayment go to the consumer pay table to determine when the paymentshould be released and how it will be released for payment.

[0023] The service provider may pay merchants by a draft or check(paper) or by electronic funds transfer. To create a draft that willpass through the banking system, it must be specially inked. This may beaccomplished by a printer which puts a micr code on drafts, likestandard personal checks. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the front endprocessor 40 may be a DEC VAX which is connected to an IBM main frame 46Model 4381. Consumers may call by telephone 35, a number that passesthrough the private bank exchange (PBX) 39 and contacts a voice responseunit 41 in association with the front end processor 40. After theconsumer's payment instructions are received an analysis is performed todetermine the most cost effective and least risk mode of payment for theservice provider to use. One preferred mode of payment is electronicfunds transfer through the Federal Reserve Automated Clearing House(ACH) Network 47. If the service provider is not a bank, a bankintermediary may be needed to be connected to the Federal ReserveNetwork. Another payment mode is a charge to the consumer's credit cardthrough the RPS Network 49. Additionally, an IBM Laser Printer attachedto a micr post printer 48 may be used by the service provider to senddrafts 76 or consolidated checks 78 to merchants. The main frame 46 hasdata storage means 50 and runs the FIF 24 and MMF 42 programs. It mayalso have a tape drive or telecommunication interface for accomplishingelectronic funds transfer. It should be recognized that various otherhardware arrangements could be used to accomplish the present invention.FIG. 6 illustrates a similar arrangement for use when the consumer isusing a personal computer 37 to instruct the service provider. Thepersonal computer may access the front end processor 40 through thestandard X.25 Network 43.

[0024] Referring now to FIGS. 4a, 4 b and 4 c, the payment process isshown. The payment process may be cycled 56 each day or more or lessfrequently. The first step is to establish when payment items are to beprocessed. This may be accomplished through a processing calendar 58. Aprocessing calendar 58 may be built into the system. The calendar 58enables the system to consider each date, including weekends and theFederal Reserve holidays. Payments are released from the consumer paytable 38 using the due date. Any bank date, payments, or payments withina period such as four business days may be released the same day. Allfuture payment dates would be stored in the consumer pay table 38.On-line inquiry may be made on the consumer pay table 38. The serviceprovider has on-line capability to make changes to the consumer paymentupon request until the day the payment is released. A consumer'smerchant change may also affect the consumer's payment on the pay table38.

[0025] The method of payment to the merchant may be either paper (draftor check) or electronic. There are several factors in the process usedto determine if a payment will be released as a paper item, or an ACHelectronic transaction (automated clearing house; service provider is aparty to transaction). Each consumer may be assigned a status such as:active =good; inactive=bad; and, pending=uncertain, risky. If aconsumer's status is pending 60, when reviewing the payment file withthe processing calendar 58, the payment should go out as a draft paperto protect the service provider. When payment is made by draft, theservice provider is not a contractual party to the transaction. Theconsumer's bank account codes are actually encoded onto the draftprepared by the service provider and act much like the consumer'spersonal check. The draft has been specially designed for this process.The draft is payable to either the service provider or the particularmerchant. This allows the draft to be delivered to the merchant forpayment and depositing, but allows the draft to be legally payable bythe bank, with proper authorization. Additionally, posting informationfor the merchant is contained on the body of the draft. To theapplicant's knowledge, it is the first time a draft has been used insuch a manner and with this unique design to accomplish this. If theconsumer's bank transit number does not indicate an electronic bank 62(ie., a banking institution that will accept electronic funds transfer),the program associated with FIF 24 sends the payment as a draft. Apre-note 28 is required any time 64 new banking information is enteredon a consumer and the bank shows on FIF 24 as an electronic receivingbank. The pre-note period is ten (10) days under federal law. Anypayments released during this period are sent as paper.

[0026] The third manner in which the service provider may pay bills isby a check written on the service provider's account. A consolidatedcheck may be written if many customers have asked the service providerto pay the same merchant. Under this method of payment the serviceprovider assumes some risk since the service provider writes the checkon its own account. The service provider is later reimbursed by the(consumer's) banking institution.

[0027] As a means of minimizing risk to the service provider, anytransaction may be compared to the MMF 42 credit limit. For example, ifthe check limit is greater than zero and the payment is $50.00 or less66, the item may be released as electronic 74 or by service providercheck 78. If the payment is greater than $50.00 but less than or equalto the merchant credit limit 68, the payment may be released aselectronic payment 74 or check 78. Any payments within the merchant'scredit limit 70 are added to the consumer's monthly ACH balance 72. Thisprovides a monthly total billing day to billing day summary of theconsumer's electronic payment activity. Any transaction may be comparedto the consumer's database credit limit parameters. If a payment amountis greater than the consumer's credit limit, the item is released as adraft 76 which is written on the consumer's account. If the paymentamount plus the total of electronic payments in a particular month isgreater than the consumer's credit limit, the item is released as adraft 76. Items not released as paper are initiated as an ACH debitagainst the consumer's account.

[0028] The consumer database may be reviewed for proper electronic fundstransfer (EFT) routing. Payment to the merchant may be accomplished oneof three ways, depending on the merchant's settlement code. Variousmerchants settlement codes may be established. For example, a merchantset up with a settlement code “01” results in a check and remittancelist 78 being mailed to the merchant. Merchants with a settlement code,such as “10” produce an ACH customer initiated entry (CIE). Merchantswith a settlement code, such as, “13” produce a remittance processingsystem (RPS) credit.

[0029] In the consumer pay table, for fixed payments, a payment dategets rolled to the next scheduled payment date on the pay table. Thenumber of remaining payments counter is decreased by one for each fixedpayment made. For variable payments once made, the payment date isdeleted on the consumer pay table. The schedule date and amount on theconsumer pay table roll to zero. A consumer payment history may also beprovided which show items such as process date as well as collectiondate, settlement method, and check number in addition to merchant nameand amount.

[0030] The software of the present invention is designed in part to makeseveral decisions relating to particular transactions for consumers. Thefollowing example is provided to more fully describe the software. Thisexample is not intended to limit the application to the detailsdescribed in the example and is only provided to further enhance thedescription of the invention already stated above.

[0031] For this example, assume that a consumer has five transactions ofvarying amounts for which the consumer has asked the service provider toarrange payment. For simplicity, assume that the five payments are to bemade on the same day. First, the consumer database 22 is edited tovalidate the status, banking institution, and pre-note flags associatedwith the consumer's requested payments. The account numbers provided bythe consumer for the merchants to be paid, are also checked to determineif they are valid. Assuming the merchant account numbers are valid, theprogram begins with the first dollar analysis.

[0032] For purposes of this example, the five payments the consumer hasrequested are in the amounts of: $25.00; $75.00; $150.00; $250.00; and$1,000.00. The program will consider each dollar amount individually asit goes through the various edit modes. The first edit may be called a$50.01 edit. In this example, any transaction that is less than $50.01is automatically sent as an ACH debit to the consumer's account. Thismeans that the service provider uses ACH to electronically transferfunds from the consumer's account to the service provider's clearingaccount.

[0033] In this example, the initial payment of $25.00 will satisfy the$50.01 edit and therefore will be paid without any further edits beingconducted for this particular payment. Continuing with the example, thenext edit may be a merchant dollar edit that is established for thespecific merchant to which the transaction is being sent. For purposesof this example, this edit is set at $100.00 for all merchants.Different dollar edits can be incorporated for different merchants. Inthe example, the second payment request of the consumer, for $75.00,meets the $100.00 merchant edit parameter and is sent as an ACH debit tothe consumer's account. Note that the $75.00 payment would not havesatisfied the $50.01 edit and therefore would have passed on to thesecond edit which in this case, is the merchant dollar edit.

[0034] The remaining three payments in the example exceed both the$50.01 edit and the merchant $100.00 edit and therefore, go to the nextedit. In the example, the next edit is for a consumer individualtransaction limit set at $200.00. The $150.00 payment is less than the$200.00 consumer individual transaction limit and is, therefore, sent asan ACH debit to the consumer's account and paid. The other two remainingpayments yet to be made exceed the $200.00 limit in this example andpass to the next edit.

[0035] In the next edit, which happens to be the last edit in theexample, the consumer's month-to-date “unqualified” risk limit ischecked. In the example, the month-to-date limit is set at $1,500.Assume that for this particular consumer $400.00 of month-to-datepayments have already been made on the consumer's behalf. Added to the$400.00 would be the three payments made above for $25.00, $75.00 and$150.00. So an additional $250.00 is added to the $400.00 month-to-datefor a total of $650.00 “unqualified” risk for the current month-to-dateamount. The next payment to be made is for $250.00 and would fall withinthe $1,500 month-to-date limit when added to the current $650.00 riskamount. Therefore, the $250.00 payment is made and an ACH debit is sentto the consumer's account. This brings the total month-to-date“unqualified” risk amount to $900.00. The final $1,000 payment has notbeen paid and would send the “unqualified” risk amount over $1,500 whenadded to the $900.00. Since the final payment of $1,000 in the examplefails the consumer month-to-date limit edit, the $1,000 payment would besent as a paper draft directly drawn on the consumer's account, and forwhich the service provider has no liability. In the example, the finalstep would be updating the consumer month-to-date current total to$900.00.

[0036] The apparatus for and method of bill payment of the presentinvention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood fromthe foregoing description. It will be apparent that various changes maybe made in the form and steps thereof without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its advantages.

We claim:
 1. A method of paying bills using a computer, comprising thesteps of: receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant onbehalf of a particular consumer; selecting a payment type from a groupconsisting of a first payment type and a second payment type; and,directing payment of the bill using the selected payment type.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the first payment type is an electronic fundstransfer and the second payment type is selected from a group consistingof a draft and a check.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step ofselecting a payment type further includes the step of searching adatabase of merchant information, the database including an indicator ofpayment type corresponding to each of a plurality of merchants includingthe particular merchant.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the indicatorof payment type includes a merchant's bank routing number.
 5. The methodof claim 2 wherein the step of selecting a payment type includes thestep of evaluating the amount of the bill to be paid.
 6. The method ofclaim 2 wherein the step of selecting a payment type includes the stepof searching a database having deposit account numbers, eachrepresenting a respective deposit account maintained at one of aplurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality ofconsumers including the particular consumer, to identify the depositaccount number of the particular consumer, and the step of directingpayment of the bill includes the step of preparing a draft written onfunds in the deposit account represented by the identified depositaccount number.
 7. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of selecting apayment type includes the step of searching a database having depositaccount numbers, each representing a respective deposit accountmaintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions bya plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identifythe deposit account number of the deposit account of the particularconsumer, and the step of directing payment of the bill includes thestep of initiating an electronic funds transfer of funds in the depositaccount represented by the identified deposit account number.
 8. Themethod of claim 7 wherein the step of selecting a payment type furtherincludes the step of searching a database of merchant information, thedatabase including a bank routing number corresponding to each of aplurality of merchants including the particular merchant.
 9. The methodof claim 1 wherein the step of directing payment of the bill comprisesthe steps of: searching a database having deposit account numbers, eachrepresenting a respective deposit account maintained at one of aplurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality ofconsumers including the particular consumer, to identify the depositaccount number of the deposit account of the particular consumer; andpaying the bill from funds in a deposit account other than the depositaccount represented by the identified deposit account number.
 10. Themethod of claim 9 further comprising the step of: transferring funds inthe amount of the bill from the deposit account of the particularconsumer to the deposit account from which the bill payment was made.11. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of directing payment of thebill includes the step of preparing a check written on funds in aservice provider's deposit account.
 12. The method of claim 2 whereinthe step of directing payment of the bill includes the step ofinitiating an electronic funds transfer from funds in a serviceprovider's account.
 13. The method of claim 1 further comprising thesteps of: determining if the request to pay the bill is a duplicate of aprevious request; and, terminating the request if the request is aduplicate request.
 14. A method of paying bills using a computer,comprising the steps of: receiving an instruction to pay a bill of aparticular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer; searching adatabase having deposit account numbers, each representing a respectivedeposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financialinstitutions by a plurality of consumers including the particularconsumer, to identify the deposit account number of the deposit accountof the particular consumer; selecting a payment type; and, directingpayment of the bill by the type of payment selected from funds in theidentified deposit account.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the stepof selecting a payment type includes the step of comparing the amount ofthe bill to be paid to a predetermined amount.
 16. The method of claim14 wherein the step of selecting a payment type includes the step ofidentifying a payment type indicator associated with the particularmerchant.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of identifying apayment type indicator associated with the particular merchant includesthe step of searching a merchant database having a payment typeindicator associated with each of a plurality of merchants including theparticular merchant.
 18. The method of claim 14 further comprising thesteps of: receiving a deposit account number representing a depositaccount maintained at one of a plurality of associated financialinstitutions by a particular consumer; storing the deposit accountnumber in a database of deposit account numbers; comparing a particularconsumer's deposit account number in the deposit account number databasewith the particular consumer's deposit account number in a financialinstitutions database to determine if the consumer's deposit accountnumber in the deposit account number database is correct; and,correcting the deposit account number if the deposit account number inthe deposit account number database is not correct.
 19. The method ofclaim 14 wherein the step of selecting a payment type further comprisesthe step of selecting a payment type from a check written on funds in adeposit account other than the deposit account represented by theidentified deposit account number, a draft written on funds in thedeposit account represented by the identified deposit account number,and an electronic funds transfer of funds in the deposit accountrepresented by the identified deposit account number;
 20. A method ofelectronically paying bills, comprising the steps of: receiving arequest to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particularconsumer; selecting a payment type from the group consisting of a draft,a check, and an electronic funds transfer; and, directing payment of thebill using the selected payment type.
 21. The method of claim 20 whereinthe step of selecting a payment type further includes the step ofsearching a database of merchant information, the database including anindicator of payment type corresponding to each of a plurality ofmerchants including the particular merchant.
 22. The method of claim 21wherein the indicator of payment type includes a merchant's bank routingnumber.
 23. The method of claim 20 wherein the step of selecting apayment type includes the step of evaluating the amount of the bill tobe paid.
 24. The method of claim 20 wherein the step of selecting apayment type includes the step of searching a database having depositaccount numbers, each representing a respective deposit accountmaintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions bya plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identifythe deposit account number of the particular consumer, and the step ofdirecting payment of the bill includes the step of preparing a draftwritten on funds in the deposit account represented by the identifieddeposit account number.
 25. The method of claim 20 wherein the step ofselecting a payment type includes the step of searching a databasehaving deposit account numbers, each representing a respective depositaccount maintained at one of a plurality of associated financialinstitutions by a plurality of consumers including the particularconsumer, to identify the deposit account number of the deposit accountof the particular consumer and the step of paying the bill includes thestep of initiating an electronic funds transfer of funds from thedeposit account represented by the identified deposit account number.26. The method of claim 25 wherein the step of selecting a payment typefurther includes the step of searching a database of merchantinformation, the database including bank routing numbers correspondingto each of a plurality of merchants including the particular merchant.27. The method of claim 26 wherein the step of directing payment of thebill comprises the steps of: searching a database having deposit accountnumbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained atone of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a pluralityof consumers including the particular consumer, to identify the depositaccount number of the deposit account of the particular consumer; andpaying the bill from funds in a deposit account other than the depositaccount represented by the identified deposit account number.
 28. Themethod of claim 27 further comprising the step of: transferring funds inthe amount of the bill from the deposit account of the particularconsumer to the deposit account from which the bill payment was made.29. An article of manufacture, comprising: a computer readable medium;and computer software stored on the computer readable medium, thecomputer software comprising a set of instructions directing a computerto perform the steps of: receiving a request to pay a bill of aparticular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer; selecting apayment type; and, directing payment of the bill using the selectedpayment type.
 30. An article of manufacture, comprising: a computerreadable medium; and computer software stored on the computer readablemedium, the computer software comprising a set of instructions directinga computer to perform the steps of: receiving an instruction to pay abill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;searching a database having deposit account numbers, each representing arespective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality ofassociated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers includingthe particular consumer, to identify the deposit account number of thedeposit account of the particular consumer; selecting a payment type;and, directing payment of the bill by the type of payment selected fromfunds in the identified deposit account.
 31. A system for paying billsusing a computer, comprising: means for receiving a request to pay abill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer; meansfor selecting a payment type; and, means for directing payment of thebill using the selected payment type.
 32. The system of claim 31 whereinsaid means for selecting a payment type comprises means for selecting apayment type from the group consisting of a draft, a check, and anelectronic funds transfer.
 33. A system for paying bills using acomputer, comprising: a communications apparatus for receiving a requestto pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particularconsumer; and, a computer processor operatively connected to thecommunications apparatus for selecting a payment type and directingpayment of the bill using the selected payment type.
 34. A system forpaying bills using a computer, comprising: a communications switchoperatively connected to a network for receiving a request to pay a billof a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer; a computerprocessor operatively connected to the network for selecting a paymenttype and directing payment of the bill using the selected payment type.35. The system of claim 34 wherein the payment type is an electronicfunds transfer and the computer processor is operatively connected to asecond network in communication with an automated clearing house forinitiating payment of the bill by the electronic funds transfer.